Drawing, drawings, everywhere!

London Transport Museum has many different collections, from posters and signs to buses and trains, with so many other wonderful things in between. This week I was sent down to our drawings store at our Depot in Acton to do some research for an upcoming restoration project. I rather ashamedly had never entered the drawings store before (and can I confess I barely knew of its existence…) – it’s one of those sides to our collection that you only really explore when you really need to. Unlike our beautiful posters, which are often requested for books or exhibitions, or the vehicles which are so dominant in our stores, the drawings are kept neatly tucked away for safe-keeping, meaning I’ve never stumbled across them until now.

A majority of the drawings are made on a linen-type material, which means they don’t rip or crease in the same way that paper does. They are also well used so are looking their age, but they are still of incredibly high value for understanding the vehicles in our collection, and London Transport stock as a whole. Getting the opportunity to delve into the drawers and search through the vast array of drawings was quite the experience, and a decent work-out – the large drawings weigh a tonne!